The invention relates to the control of surgical instruments, especially microsurgical and ophthalmic systems, by the use of foot controls, and more particularly, to a surgical foot control, namely a peripheral foot control assembly 15, with programmable features and functions for specific use in a modular microsurgical system for anterior and posterior ophthalmic surgery as described below, and herein interchangeably as "the modular microsurgical system" or "the microsurgical system" or "the microsurgical control system." As disclosed, such microsurgical system uses a fully modular microprocessor-controlled methodology which allows the system to be dynamically configured electronically for anterior, posterior or both surgical environments from a console of the system. Further, as the present surgical foot control includes microprocessor-controlled circuitry which communicates with the modular microsurgical system, reference may be had, for purposes of a further understanding, to the copending patent application entitled "Ophthalmic Microsurgical System", Serial No. 60/025,498, filed Aug. 29, 1996, for comprehensive disclosure of the software and certain communication bus protocols usable therewith.
In use of a microsurgical multi-functional system as the foregoing, a surgeon conducting surgery or carrying out ophthalmic procedures in the anterior or posterior portions of the eye necessarily will have his or her eyes at a microscopic viewing instrument, and desires to be able to carry out control of the various ophthalmic modules by the use of a foot control of the invention. Such a foot control desirably provides controls not only for the various ophthalmic modules, selecting the surgical mode desired, and controlling the rate of operation produced by handpieces interconnected with the modules, such as aspiration, vitrectomy cutting, phacoemulsification, scissor cutting, and so forth.
Ophthalmic microsurgical systems in present day use, and as have been proposed and used for a number of years in modern ophthalmic surgical practice, have heretofore been controlled by foot controls, as typically may be used in conjunction with a display console.
An example of a modern control system for ophthalmic surgical instruments, employing a foot control, is found in co-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,603, entitled Control System for Ophthalmic Surgical Instruments and herein called "predecessor system." The foot control in the predecessor system, specifically designed for such system, does not have all the features and advantages of the present foot control. Foot controls disclosed in related co-assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,091,656 and 4,837,857 should also be noted as disclosing features of prior foot controls usable in microsurgical systems for ophthalmic surgery.
Numerous other microsurgical systems using foot controls have been known and used; and indeed simple foot controls have been used for many years in the medical and surgical arts and for other cognate uses where the user desires to be able to use foot control in order to free the hands and in order to obviate need for diversion of the eyes from a task or procedure at hand.
Nevertheless, foot controls as heretofore known are not without considerable drawbacks when it is desired to be able to use the same foot control for controlling a variety of possible devices, ophthalmic tools and instruments; or where it is desired that the same foot control be equally as useful with one type of module as for another, while allowing the foot control to select the mode or module desired, while providing also capability for use of the foot control with any of possible future modules as they become available.
But, in general, prior foot controls have not had the desired degree of flexibility and programmability allowing for the wide gamut of conceivable modes and preferences.